Ruth went to her mail box and there was only one letter. She
picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the
envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She
read the letter:

Dear Ruth: I`m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday
afternoon and I'd like to stop by for a visit. Love Always, Jesus

Her hands were
shaking as she placed the letter on the table. "Why would the Lord want to
visit me? I'm nobody special. I don't have anything to offer." With that
thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. "Oh my goodness, I
really don't have anything to offer. I'll have to run down to the store and buy
something for dinner."

She reached for her purse and counted out its
contents. Five dollars and forty cents. "Well, I can get some bread and
cold cuts, at least." She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A
loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of
milk...leaving Ruth with grand total twelve cents to last her until Monday.
Nonetheless, she felt good as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under
her arm.

"Hey lady, can you help us, lady?"

Ruth had been so absorbed
in her dinner plans, she hadn't even noticed two figures huddled in the
alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags

"Look lady, I ain't got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living
out here on the street, and, well, now it's getting cold and we're getting kinda
hungry and, well, if you could help us. Lady, we'd really appreciate it."

Ruth looked at them both. They were dirty, they smelled bad and frankly, she was
certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to.

"Sir, I'd like to help you, but I'm a poor woman myself. All I have is a
few cold cuts and some bread, and I'm having an important guest for dinner
tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him."

"Yeah, well, okay
lady, I understand. Thanks anyway." The man put his arm around the woman's
shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley.

As she watched them leave,
Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart.

"Sir, wait!"

The couple
stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them.

"Look, why don't
you take this food. I'll figure out something else to serve my guest." She
handed the man her grocery bag.

"Thank you lady. Thank you very much!"

"Yes, thank you!" It was the man's wife, and Ruth could see now that
she was shivering.

"You know, I've got another coat at home. Here, why
don't you take this one." Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over
the woman's shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the
street...without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest.

"Thank you
lady! Thank you very much!"

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her
front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn't have
anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as
she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox.

"That's odd. The
mailman doesn't usually come twice in one day."

She took the envelope out
of the box and opened it.

Dear Ruth: It was so good to see you again. Thank you
for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat. Love Always
Jesus

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.